Bill Nunn

Commanding performer 'Bill Nunn' (qv) made his feature debut in fellow Morehouse College graduate 'Spike Lee' (qv)'s _School Daze (1988)_ (qv), but really etched himself into moviegoers' minds as a formidable screen presence in his second film with Lee, _Do the Right Thing (1989)_ (qv), playing Radio Raheem, whose ever-present boom box is at the center of a fight that leads to his death at the hands of an overzealous police officer, the prelude to the all-out riot that follows (Nunn also acted in _Mo' Better Blues (1990)_ (qv) and _He Got Game (1998)_ (qv) for Lee). Though he made his initial mark playing young street toughs on screen, this veteran of the Atlanta stage showed he could use his impressive size for something other than menace with a critically acclaimed performance as 'Harrison Ford' (qv)'s sympathetic, high-spirited physical therapist in _Regarding Henry (1991)_ (qv). Nunn subsequently played pretty much every type there is, all the way up to nice, huggable teddy bear guys like 'Whoopi Goldberg' (qv)'s protector Eddie Souther in _Sister Act (1992)_ (qv).His professionalism made him a favorite of other directors besides Lee. He portrayed a Southern police chief in 'Bill Condon' (qv)'s _White Lie (1991)_ (qv) (USA Network), later reteaming with Condon for _Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)_ (qv), and has also acted twice for 'Michael Apted' (qv) (_Extreme Measures (1996)_ (qv), HBO's _Always Outnumbered (1998)_ (qv)) and 'Gary Fleder' (qv) (_Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)_ (qv), _Kiss the Girls (1997)_ (qv)). Nunn also turned in a fine performance as 'Tim Roth' (qv)'s adoptive father in _The Legend of 1900 (1998)_ (qv), 'Giuseppe Tornatore' (qv)'s first English-language feature, released initially in Italy and then in the United States in 1999. He can also be seen in _Spider-Man (2002)_ (qv), _People I Know (2002)_ (qv) with 'Al Pacino' (qv) and the prison thriller _Lockdown (2000)_ (qv).Nunn has also found time to do numerous television pilots and three series. He was in the CBS series _Traps (1994)_ (qv) with 'George C. Scott' (qv), sitcom _Local Heroes (1995)_ (qv) for NBC and the critically acclaimed The 'Job' (qv) (2001) with 'Denis Leary' (qv) on ABC. He appeared on episodes of _Chicago Hope (1994)_ (qv), _Touched by an Angel (1994)_ (qv) (both CBS), _New York Undercover (1994)_ (qv) and _Millennium (1996)_ (qv) (both Fox), among others.Nunn lived in Georgia with his wife Donna and daughters Jessica and Cydney.::A. Nonymous